Update:
The Sacramento Kings defeated the Dallas Mavericks 130-121 Thursday.
Sacramento was led by Precious Achiuwa who had a fantastic night with 29 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes. Nique Clifford was close to a triple double with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Devin Carter had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Maxime Raynaud dropped in 22 points and 6 rebounds.
The Kings scored a whopping 76 points in the paint.
Interestingly, DeMar DeRozan only took 3 shots.
From Earlier Preview:
The Kings returned to their losing ways last night in Houston, and remain in Texas for another basketball game, the second night of a back-to-back, vs. the Mavericks. Let’s get into it.
Who: Sacramento Kings (13-47) vs. Dallas Mavericks (21-36)
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
When: 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The only injury report in the league longer than the Kings might just be the Mavericks’. Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively are out, and another handful of their rotation players are doubtful. Dallas probably needs to tank more than the Kings at this point, so expect another night of brutal basketball.
Prediction: Kings 111, Mavericks 108.
The Mavs had their own losing streak;
Ten games versus ours—kinda meek.
A tank battle is set;
Don’t think I’d place a bet.
With Vivek, things will always look bleak!
+1 Tanks are getting crowded!
Yee haw!
Just imagine if you paid full season ticket prices for this cow patty.
Honestly this is the first game I want to watch in a while. These lineups are objectively hilarious with Silver’s recent bullshit about tanking.
With Keeg’s extension about to kick in, are we going to end up with another bad contract? lol Not sure how he’s become an injury machine suddenly, but his value isn’t great with his efficiency and percentages sliding towards the gutter each season. For a 4th pick, he should be further along for a guy going on 26, and entering his 5th season.
Keegan is slated to make $24.1M next season, which is $800K less than DeAndre Hunter. It will be 14% of the cap, which is typical for your 4th or 5th best player. His contract is fine.
Was he hurt a lot this year? For sure, but he played in over 92% of his games in his first 3 years. I’m not worried about his health.
I don’t think it matters that he was picked 4th. Should the draft be held again, he’d still be a top 10 pick as a solid 2-way role player.
i’m not too worried about Keegan when the real problem is how the Kings have used and developed him. I get the feeling 29 teams would be calling on him if he was made available, so leave it to the Kings to attach him to someone like LaVine to dump the worse contract.
I think that is debatable. Taking into account things like age, I’d rank the following guys above him:
Paolo
Chet
Jabari
Sharpe
Mathurin
Jalen Williams
Duren
Eason
Braun
Kessler
And that is not even taking into account some second rounders from that draft (Nembhard, Rollins, at first glance). But if you say he is near the bottom of that top 10, I won’t get upset.
He’s a nice player, but doesn’t create much for himself, nor for others and is flat-out horrible at drawing fouls.
His contract may not be bad, but it’s not good either. He’s a decent to good defender, which makes Kings fan overvalue him as “great”. He may have a bit of a dog in him, but it’s a poodle. Nice guy, though. Should smile a bit more.
And getting a fifth starter-type player with the #4 pick is not great. But maybe we can pair him with a second-banana type player after this draft…
Keegan and Domas are the two Kings you’re never permitted to speak negatively about amongst King’s fans, probably because they’re both nice soft spoken dudes.
Monk at 4/$78 is considered an atrocious contract by King’s fans but Keegan at 5/$140 is considered fair. That makes no sense to me.
It’s another not so great pick by the venerable Monte. And the only good FRP he made he traded away to appease and build around Fox, only to trade Fox a few years later for a bag of chips and an overpaid selfish player on the side.
Sharpe
Mathurin
Jalen Williams
Duren
Eason
Braun
Kessler
Monk doesn’t play defense. That’s a huge knock on his value.
Keegan is a spot shooter and an above average defender, and nothing else. Even his spot shooting is questionable at this point, and he should skew to the corners, which I’m not sure he does. Basically, he’s a taller, worse shooting Keon Ellis. I like Keon! But he’s an add on to a good team, not a critical piece. Same with Keegan.
It’s no coincidence that Keegan’s numbers have cratered as he’s tried to do more. A smart coach (Mike Brown) is going to put him into a position to succeed, instead of constantly pushing him to do things on offense that are outside his capabilities.
He’s a decent glue guy on a good team that can do (a little) dirty work, doesn’t need and shouldn’t have the ball, and in a good year can be above average from three. His contract is bad, and I’m not sure he has any real plus value at this point. Maybe a late first from a team with specific needs who has picks to burn. I wouldn’t trade him for that deal because he’s one of the few players that can actually contribute to a good team at some point.
Sorry folks. I like Keegan, but he’s a contributor, not a key piece. He’s just not all that good, especially on a team that needs everything.
This. He’s been so badly misused since his first year that it has tanked his growth and production. In a good system and plays to his strenghts, he’b excelling. He’d be outstanding in Golden State, which is probably why they insisted on him in a Kuminga deal and wanted nothing to do with Monk.
I also agree with this. If he is a piece that is needed to acquire future assets or an additional pick this year, I’d probably pull that trigger because the Kings have nothing right now. He’s got a bit of that Cam Johnson vibe going right now. Solid role player but not someone you build around. If you can move Keegan to a contender like the Nets did with Cam and get future assets in return, you have to strongly consider it.
My main issue right now, is his value is very low. Selling low does not appeal to me. The Nets sold high on Cam Johnson and the Kings should do the same with Keegan, if they are in fact looking to build for the future.
Agreed.
There is no reason under the sun to give him away. If someone offers something substantial, that’s different. But with his versatility to play the 3 or 4 (and guard 2s), the Kings are years away from his presence clogging another player’s development and opportunities, and his salary is a non-issue. That said, they are also probably years away from contention, so if someone makes a huge offer, you have to consider it.
He’s Harrison Barnes right now. And Barnes is thriving in San Antonio. So the issue is not really Keegan Murray. It is the lack of better talent around him.
Good points, Rob.
My real concern is that since the Kings are so cap strapped, they may be forced to move Keegan for pennies on the dollar just to put together a full functioning roster for next season as he is their only positive asset right now.
I mused the other day that I could see Vivek going for a Keegan to Dallas for Klay’s expiring, AJ Johnson and this year’s #29 pick. We’d then get to “enjoy” another aged out vet’s swan song next year as Vivek swoons over Klay.
That would be the very definition of selling low on Keegan.
Yeah, you can never overstate the possibility of this organization doing something truly stupid.
They’ll do a three-team where they wind up with Kris Murray and a 2nd rounder that never conveys. “He looks just like Keegan but at a fraction of the price!”
“This system really suits him.” Kayte Christensen on Marvin Bagley. Bahahahaha. Are you kidding me?
If she means system of playing G-League talent, I agree.
Id Say the Mavs and Pacers will end up in the top 3 of the lottery. As for the KaNgZ…. Probably just outside the top 3
Will be interesting to see what happens these last 20 games. Nets, Pacers, Wizards and Jazz are tanking HARD. The Kings just suck and are injured. I’d bet a hefty sum that the Kings don’t end up with the worst record.
Was fun to hear the Mavs broadcast talk themselves into Marvin Bagley.
Devin Carter is such an unconventional player. He does a little bit of everything, without excelling at anything other than making “wait, what did Devin Carter just do???” plays. This game alone, he had 4 steals, 4 offensive rebounds (3 tip-ins!), which were followed by some of the worst turnovers you’ll see.
I reckon a competent coaching staff could mold him into a valuable rotation player who comes in and turns games around. This coaching staff is unfortunately not competent.
He accounted for 75% of the team’s turnovers!
Carter’s problem is that he can’t shoot even a little bit. Carter and Hayes might be two of the worst shooters in the NBA.
Oddly entertaining game….
….to watch.
I thought Devin played one of his best games last night. IMO if he would continue to do this I would start him over Wesrbrook. Yes he had 3 turnovers but how much does Russ have on an average night, four or five. Carter doesn’t dribble the ball away and if he plays team ball like last night he should play more than Westbrook. Carter also plays better defense than Westbrook by far. Enough said.
Plowden should be a regular for the Kings next year. Plays good defense. Shoots well. Last night hit that 3 at the end of the fourth which sealed the game. That along with Carters tipins, Cliffords assists and rebounds and don’t forget Precious’s total game those were my favorite moments. Kings need to keep Precious. Lastly I saw some moments of Hayes last night that along with his offense will IMO come along as he gets more comfortable. Could be a diamond in the rough.
With Carter and Hayes it’s all about their shooting imo, in particular Hayes
And Nique.
IMO played pretty good last night. What was it 7 assets and only one turnover. I’ll take that.
Sorry about the spelling. Hit post comment and it was to late to change it.
7 assists & 8 boards, but shot 6-19 and 1-6 from 3. Shooting 39% and 32% from 3 on the season. Needs to improve his shooting.
I would give him, Hayes, a little more time to get comfortable with the King’s offense. Then make a decision. 13 assists and one turnover not bad compared to Westbrooks turnovers. With Carter I understand the coaches sat him down and explained what they want in a point guard. Seems he got the message. IMO best game he has played this year.
And the post all-star push to F up our draft position is in full gear.
Finish with the 4th worst record and get jumped by a few teams. Now drafting 6 or 7. That’s my prediction.
Again with the angst.
Two G-League styled rosters played basketball last night. One team had to lose and one had to win.
You can’t lose them all.
Sacramento has a .230 win percentage, the worst in all of the Association. That means they will win once every 4.34 games or get 4 wins and 17 losses every 21 games. They just lost 16 in a row – and funny as it is – y’all worried it ain’t
goodbad enough. If Sacramento continues at this rate – they will win another 7 games of the remaining 31.Holy crap! 31 games – 40% of the season remaining and we cheer and jeer about every loss like the Beam Team season wins. The perversity of it all is beyond the pale.
That means Sacramento is on pace to win 21 games. It has been and will be a very tight race to stumble, fumble and bumble to the finish line for lottery odds.
This is exactly the reason tanking is a problem. As a (partial) season ticket holder, there has not been a meaningful game (to win), with meaningful players since November. I don’t want to invest in this product with my discretionary dollars.
Yes Yes Yes – integrity and gambling are MAJOR issues, but tanking is not a non-issue, it’s another sizable problem. It’s easy to ignore Sacramento everywhere but here. But I am here so there ya go.
I think only 21 games remaining.
Maths b hard
21, 31, 41, 51, even 61 games ago – the Kings were irrelevant.
21 games or 5 more wins so a 19 win season, not 21.
The 2008-09 season saw 17 wins, after Reggie Theus fired 24 games in. The previous season 2007-08 was a 38 win season for Coach Reggie. Many parallels between those two seasons and the last and current seasons. Doug “Kenny Natt” Christie?
With this team 21 games feels like 31. Excruciating slide to the off season.
You can’t lose them all.
Why not?
I finally have joined what many of you have complained about all season, that is, that Kayte C needs to take a breath and have few words. For years, I have admired her analytical abilities — she really does know the game. But, maybe because she feels the need to fill the space when the team is so bad, she talks way too much about a player while the plays are continuing to go forward. Sometimes Kayte, less is more.
Meanwhile, if they play Russell Westbrook more than 15 minutes a game, I just may stop watching altogether. He makes some of the worst passes EVER and he is like a guy you play a pick-up game with who hits his first shot or two then you know you will never see the ball again because he thinks he is Jerry West or Allen Iverson (hey I am in my 70’s so my references are older). We need to stay in the bottom three as my take on the 2026 draft is that it is not deep and there is certainly not a Luka or Cooper or even a Cunningham or Ant Edwards.
I”m still surprised Russ is on the team. There must be absolutely zero market for him to a playoff team on a pro-rated vet minimum after a buyout. I’m sure his camp has put out feelers, but his career may end up going the way of Chris Paul after this season with very little fanfare or press.
He has put in his time and effort. A truly great player but it’s time to go.
I’m in my 40’s, and am both depressed and overjoyed by the prospect of still being on here bitching about the Kings in my 70’s. I don’t think I’ll have seen the Kings in a Finals game in my lifetime by that point.
The kid was a starter a few years ago, and not a bad one either. He now can’t make an NBA roster at age 25. Crazy.
Looks like the Kings next 10 day contract. Why not try out another lottery pick guard from the 2020 draft? It worked once upon a time.
I’d prefer Anthony to Hayes.
I would as well. Anthony has shown more with his opportunities.
Poor man’s Malik Monk?
Not as athletic, but yeah, that’s fair. I would think he’d be a fine bench PG, but maybe his skills have fallen off of a cliff.
Smaller guy, doesn’t play much defense, and isn’t very efficient. I think the league has been moving away from those guys lately. They just get switched defensively and are cooked.
Yup.
Sounds like a future Kings to me.
Vivek approved!
that is crazy, imo he is better than a lot of guys on nba benches right now
Kings could sign him and have the “sons of real PG’s” duo in Carter and Anthony!
And when we trade Keegan for Klay and draft Boozer we can start an all NBA kids lineup of Carter, Anthony, Klay, Booz & Domas! And bring Stojakovic off the bench!
Perfect team for Anjali to run.
Trade for Bronny!
Screw the Beam Team, we can have the Gen Team!*
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